Shipping-crate



M. F. A. OTOO'LE.

.SHIPPING CRATE. APPLICATION FILED FEB. 2a, 1920.

1,383,561 Patented July 5, 1921.

3 SHEETS-SHEET I.

FlG. I

31a/manioc M. F. A. OTOOLE. SH-IPPING CRATE.

APPLICATION FILED rEILza, |920.

Patented July 5 3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

FIG. 6.

FIG. 7.

LM H LIM L FIG. 9.

FIG.8.

Pfff

M. F. A. GIOOLE.

smPPlNG CRATE.

l 920. 1,383,561 Patented July 5, 1921.-

3 SHEETS SHEET 3.

' Y open or expanded condition when required UNITED s'mrleisl PATENToFFlcE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

SHIPPING-emma.

Patented July 5, 1921.

Application led February 28, 1920. Serial No. 361,984.

To all whom t may concer/L Be it known that I, MICHAEL' F. A.

vOTooLn, a citizen of the United States of V mentsin Shipping-Crates, ofwhich the following is a specification.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements inshipping crates particularly adapted for the shipment of fowl or thelike and capable of being readily folded for compact arrangement withina small space when not in use aswell as capable of being quickly andeasilyl set up in for use.

The principal object of the present inventionY is to provide a shippingcrateV of the above character-whic`h embodies a bottom member havingside and end walls foldable upon horizontal Apivots thereon andconnected with a top wal1,member in a novel manner, both slidably andpivotally so that the crate may be readily collapsed or exmember of thecrate.

A further object of the invention is to provide improved means forslidably and pivotally connecting the top member of the crate to theside members thereof for carryi ing out the operation set forth above."V

`With the above and other objects in view, the invention consists in thenovel form, arrangement and combination of parts hereinafter more xfullydescribed, shown in the accompanying drawings, and claimed.

In the drawings, wherein like reference .characters indicate similarparts throughout the several views,

Figure 1 is atop plan view, partly broken away, of a shipping crateconstructed in accordance, with the present invention and Vshown incollapsed condition, l Y.

' wall 5 has ribs 6 rigidly fastened'longitudif substantially upon lineVf-V of Fig. 1,

l Fig.V 6 is a view similar to lFig.' 5 taken upon line VI--VI of Fig.1,

l Fig. 7 is a view similar. toy Fig. 6 taken upon line VII- VII of Fig.1,

of the crate,

Fig. 8 is an enlarged fragmentary view partly in elevation and partly invertical section, yof a corner portion of the crate shown in Fig. 1,when in expanded condition, the parts being seen substantially as theywould appear when taken upon line VIII- VIII of Fig. 9,

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary. elevational view of the device shown in Fig. 8,

Fig. l0 is a view similar to Fig. 8 but taken upon a line of 'section atright angles to the same,

Fig. 1l is a perspective view partly broken away, of an end portion ofone of the end walls of the crate,

I Fig. 12 is a fragmentary perspective view of a corner portion of thetop member of the crate, Y

Fig. 13 is a view similar to Fig. 12 of the bottom 'wall of the crateand showing the hinge members for the side and end walls of 'appearswhen partially expanded, panded by the mere manipulation of the top Fig.15 is a fragmentary,perspective view of a portion of one of the sidewall members Fig. 16is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view showingadjacent parts of the top wall member of the crate and one side wallmember thereof with Athe connecting link therefor which` permits thepivotal and sliding movement of the top wall member, and

Fig. 17` is a fragmentary perspective view Iof one rung of one of theside walls lof the crate and theassociated catch for retaining the cratein a collapsed condition.

Referring more in detail to theV several views,`th e present invention"broadly comprises a bottom wall or member 5 which may be of any,vdesired -construction but which is preferably rectangularin plan andsubstantially solid throughout. The bottom mount said end walls forswinging upwardly to a vertical position or downwardly i tofa horizontalposition uponY the uppersur-` face of the bottom wall"5 as Ais usual inthis class of devices. The ribs 6 also have suit Vable leaf hinges 12fastened theretoadja-v 'cent the brackets 7 which are also fastened tothe lower railsl of the side walls of the crate so. as to pivotallyniountthe latter .Y

for` swinging downwardly 'upon th'ef'end walls of the crateorforswinging upwardly to a vertical position when the cratel iseX- panded.VVThe vside and end walls of the f crate are preferably of the ordinarycon# vstruction embodying longitudinal.V parallel rails",V the-toprailof the end walls being inway, Y t will thus be seen that the side. and.

.end walls of the crate are foldable upon horizontal'plvotsso that theend walls-may lrst be folded inwardly upon the upper surface ofthebottom wall 5, after Awhich the side wallsV ofthecratemay be folded ontothe end walls.

f Thetop wall or member of the'crate is of the same general shape and`size in plan I .as the ibottom wall 5, but is preferably composed Vofa.V rectangular' frame17, the end members of which are connectedby'longi-- tudinalA railsv 18 which are arrangedinspaced Vparallelrelation vbetween the side rails ofV the framevli',V which side rails ofthe frame 17v are connected Vby transverserungs or spaced bars 19 thatalso'pass through alined perforationsV provided in the rails 18 of the.top wall. The rungs 19 are omitted between therrails 18 centrally ofthetop member of the crate in the usual manner to form an openingV throughwhich the fowl may be introduced into the crate, said opening beingclosedlby. the ordinary form of closurev20 Y l which is hinged at oneend and slidable upon Vone ofthe rungs 19 so that thevcoil spring 21may's'lide'said closure for engaging the i projecting en'd 22 of one ofthe rungs in the socket 23 ofthe closure 2O for locking the latter in'closed position. Y Vscribed'structure is substantially entirely old Thevabove dein the art with the possibleexccption ofthe walls of thecrateand the bottom wall thereof and will 'be readily understood bythose skilled inthe art. Y i Aplurality ofvhooks 24 preferably formedfrom wire are pivotally mounted upon substantially the central rungs 16of the side wall members of the crate so that the same may be swungupwardly to engage over the rungs 19 of the top member of the'cratewhichare immediately thereabove when the i crate is collapsed so as tohold the same in Vthis condition. The manner inwhich these hooks rareformed fand their Vrelation vto the rungs is clearly shown in Figs. 4,6, and 17.

1t will bee-understood that in .expanding the 'crateto .itsvopened-upcondition, the side walls thereof are first swung upwardly, and

Ythen the end walls thereof lare swung up'- wardly until the ends oftheirails 11 and 14 of said end walls engage thev end 'rails 1'5 of thesidewalls of the "crate soas to hold'v said side walls verticallydisposed. rlhe frame 17 of the top wall of the crate is provided withi aplurality -ofperforations 25 .which arealined with similar perforations26 in the end walls of the crate when the latter areverticallydisposechgand'suitable pins 27 arepassedthrough'theseperforations for holding lthe .crate inan `expandedconditionj Angular wiref loops vor links'28. 'areAY arranged vadjacentthe corners ofthe crate,

and each'loopf28 loosely connects an adjacent pair of. the bars 16 and1.9 of theside Tand top wall members of the Vcrate respectively-as Ymoreclearly shown in Figs,V 5,17,-

8, and Y16,` so that the topfwall member of theV crate is at 'alltiniesslidably and pivotally Y Y. connected to the side walls fofthejcrate., By f shiftingthe top wall of the crate'V laterallyV relativeto the restof the-crate, vthe loops 28 at one side of the crate,l arebrou'g'fht` adjacent the'top rail 15 of onefrof thesidewalls,

whereupon a lifting .force is exertedaipon A Y Ythe toppwall so as toswing the saidY side wall upwardly as .shown in Fig. 14; rlllie topYY4wall of the crate is then shifted laterally in l the opposite directionand simultaneou'sly-. .swung upwardly at itsopposite side so asV tocause the otherY sidewall ofthe .crate to be lifted toa verticalpositionj.-A Y"When the above takesplace, therloops orlin'ks28 embrace!the top rails of the side wall's'as shownfin Fig. 8. as shown in Fig.8,V a portion of each of the same lies between. one of thetopl rails V15and the adjacentside. rail ofthelframe 17 `Vlhen theloop'sf28fare-'positioned j and inorder yto-accomnrodate`these portionsof theclinksbetweentherail15 and the ad@ vjacent rail of the frame17,-said"rails`15jare provided Y with traI 1svers/e V parallelgrfoevc-is4 .29 which permit .the .top ,wall-of the crate-to j restuponthe side and endwalls ofthe crate even in viewlof-.the fact that-'thelinks '.28

fare positionedso` asltoV havea portion ofthe form of hinge connectionbetween the end same Y lie betweenthe side walls and thejltop. .If it isdesired lto co-l-lapse-the'crategthe f pins 27 are. removed and; the endAwalls Ymay l.

be readily swung inwardly uponf the bottom tion andV allowed to fall atone side somthat.

- the walls' assume the relative, positionvas is Y' alsof shown in F 14.f The top Vwall is then slid laterally vin .the opposite direction for YY swinging the otherY side wall .downwardly until said'k otherfsi'dewall .also lies-nponf the, end walls and the top'wall liesupon-the.'side` walls as illustrated' in Figs. 2 and?. With the side,end and top walls collapsed in this condition, it will be seen that thehooks 24 may be readily swung upwardly to the full line position of Fig.6 so that each of the same engage over one of the rungs 19 formaintaining the crate in collapsed condition.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that I have provided an extremelysimple form of shipping crate which may be readily collapsed andexpanded by manipulation of the top wall member thereof, the same beingmade possible by the novel form of connection between the side walls andtop wall of the crate as above outlined.

It is believed that the construction and manner of use as well as theadvantages of the present invention will be readily understood andappreciated by those skilled in the art from the foregoing description.

It 'will be understood that minor changes may be made in the variousparts as well as the specific combination and arrangement thereof shownand described without departing from the spirit of the invention asclaimed. Y i

What is claimed as new is:

1. A collapsible shipping crate comprising a bottom wall member havingend and side walls hinged thereto upon horizontal pivots, a top wallmember, and means operatively connecting said top wall member to theside wall members whereby manipulation of the top wall member willeffect raising and lowering of said side wall members to their collapsedor expanded position, said means comprising loops loosely and slidablyconnected to the top and side wall members.

2. A collapsible shipping crate comprising a bottom wall member havingend and side walls hinged thereto upon horizontal pivots, a top wallmember, and means operatively connecting said top wall member to theside wall members whereby manipulation of the top wall member will e'ectraising and lowering of said sidewall members to their collapsed orexpanded position, said side and top wall members including transversebars or rungs, and said means Vincluding loops slidably looselyconnecting pairs of said rungs of the side and top wall members.

3. A collapsible shipping crate comprising a bottom wall member havingend side walls hinged thereto upon horizontal pivots, a top wall member,means operatively connecting said top wall member to the side wallmembers whereby manipulation of the top wall member will effect raisingand lowering of said side wall members to their collapsed or expandedposition, said side and top wall members including transverse bars orrungs,

said means including loops slidably loosely connecting pairs of saidrungs, and hooks pivoted upon rungs of said side wall members andarranged to swing to engage rungs of the top wall member for holding thecrate in collapsed condition.

4. A collapsible shipping crate comprising a bottom wall member havingend and side walls hinged thereto upon horizontal pivots, a top wallmember, means operatively connecting said top wall member to the sidewall members whereby manipulation of the top wall member will effectraising and lowering of said side wall members to their collapsed orexpanded position, said side and top wall members includingI transversebars or rungs, and said means including loops slidably looselyconnecting pairs of said rungs, the side walls of the crate furtherincluding longitudinal top rails, and the loops being of angularformation so as to embrace said rails when the crate is expanded.

5. A collapsible -shipping crate comprising a bottom wall member havingend and side walls hinged thereto upon horizontal pivots, a top wallmember, means operatively connecting said top wall member to the sidewall members whereby manipulation of the top wall member will effectraising and lowering of said side wall members to their collapsed orexpanded position, said side and top wall members including transversebars or rungs, and said means including loops slidably looselyconnecting 'pairs of saidv rungs, the side walls of the crate furtherincluding longitudinal top rails having transverse grooves therein, andthe loops being of angular `formation so as to embrace said rails andrest in said grooves when the crate is expanded.

6. A collapsible shipping crate comprising a bottom wall member, sideand end walls foldable upon horizontal pivots and carried by said bottomwall member, a top wall member, and means operatively connecting saidside walls to the top wall member whereby the latter must and may beslid laterally in one direction and raised at one side and then slidlaterally in the opposite direction and raised at the other side formoving the side walls to a vertical position when the crate is expanded,or first slid laterally in one direction and allowed to Jfall at oneside and then slid laterally in the opposite direction and allowed tofall at the other side for moving the side walls to a horizontalposition when the crate is collapsed.

In testimony whereof I aiiix mv signature.

MICHAEL F. A. O5TOOLE.

